WAFCON: Zambia need to accept Nigeria ‘was better than us’ – Häuptle

Zambia women’s national team head coach Nora Häuptle has conceded defeat after Nigeria delivered a dominant performance to demolish her side 5-0 and secure a place in the semi-finals of the 2025 TotalEnergies CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) in Casablanca on Friday.

Nigeria dismantled Zambia with ruthless efficiency at Stade Larbi Zaouli and they took the lead through Osinachi Ohale. The nine-time champions doubled their lead through Okoronkwo before Chinwendu Ihezuo pounced on a loose ball in the box to slot in a left-footed finish for a 3-0 lead at the half-time break.

Oluwatosin Demehin made it 4-0 after nodding in from close range after another set-piece wreaked havoc in Zambia’s area before substitute Folashade Ijamilusi finished off good work by Rasheedat Ajibade to wrap up the emphatic win.

“Very clear loss for us. Congratulations to Nigeria for the well-deserved victory. I think today we need to accept that Nigeria was better than us,” Häuptle told reporters after the game as quoted by Bola News. “Today none of us has been on top. I think it was a collective loss. Today none of our players has been top, neither me as coach.

“We just need to mention also that in the Nigerian squad, you see almost everyone plays abroad, either in France or America—they have many more players abroad. Nigeria is a country I think with 200 million people and Zambia with just 20 million. We don’t have so much talent.

“We’ve got at the moment nine or ten players abroad, and the rest play in the domestic league. We have also seen that, physically, we have seen that they are not on the same level. We need to accept it. We need to go back and see how our players can go abroad early.”

The Swiss concluded: “We mentioned that we were gonna hunt. We made it clear that Nigeria is a several-time winner of this tournament, but we are on the growth [and path to] good development. We were here to hunt, and we will also hunt in the next tournament, so we are hungry. We will continue to develop. We don’t care much about what others say.”

Nigeria will face the winner of the match between South Africa and Senegal in the semifinal.